


You Don't Need Me

by Katiebear015



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Character Turned Into Vampire, F/F, F/M, Human/Vampire Relationship, I'm Bad At Tagging, Steven Universe - Freeform, Steven Universe References, Steven is pretty akward, Steven looks like a bad boy but is a little innocent cinnimon roll, Tags Are Hard, maybe smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:49:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22236631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katiebear015/pseuds/Katiebear015
Summary: 16-year-old Spinel just moved to Beach City there she meets 17-year-old Steven. Spinel soon realizes Steven and his family are not human.
Relationships: Spinel & Steven Universe, Spinel/Steven Universe
Comments: 48
Kudos: 110





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to do a Steven x Spinel story for a while now. I also have been reading way too many vampire books lately.

Spinel stared in disdain at the two-story house she was now expected to call her home. This place was not her home. She did not want to be here at all. Spinel just wanted to go back to her house back in Empire City. Her real home. She wanted to be around her friends again back at her school Empire City High. She tried not to think about the fact that none of her friends had tried to contact her since she had told them she was moving 2 weeks ago. Spinel had figured they got busy because it was summer and her friends were probably out having fun… without Spinel. That thought saddened Spinel so she pushed it out of her head. She went upstairs to what is now supposed to be her room. 

She looked around at the beige walls and decided those will be painted as soon as she has saved up the money. She could get a job since it was the summer. She also lived right next to the beach, cities with beaches always had jobs around the beach which Spinel was a bit excited about. She wanted to paint her new room pink like her old bedroom back home. Her parents had been so mad that she had painted her walls without asking them. They rarely go into her room though, so it took them quite a while to see it. Her room back in Empire City was painted a deep pink the same shade of pink she dyed her hair. She loved how it looked with all her posters and drawings she had on her walls. She loved how her room had looked she had spent so much time making it her space. A space she could feel at home. And now she had to start all over again. 

With her posters on her mind, Spinel walked over to the box she was pretty sure had her posters in them. She was sure this box had her posters in them because it was the only box that had height over width to it. She didn’t really keep track of what she had thrown in her boxes she had been very angry when packing. She vaguely regretted that now though because it was going to be a pain unpacking them. She opened the box and she was hit with a sense familiarity that set her at ease just a bit. All her posters were in here. All the drawings she had posted on the walls of her favorite book characters. She definitely wanted to wait until she painted her room before she put up her wall decor. She would paint her room soon, hopefully. The walls were too bright for her liking. She sighed and closed the box back up, going through her stuff was not something she wanted to do just yet. She wanted to put that off just a bit longer. 

Spinel found herself getting up and walking back downstairs and back into the dining room. She vaguely noticed her parents had already left the house, but she was used to that by now. She knew they would not stay long once they unloaded the moving truck. They had probably gone off to scope out the nearest bar. She went over to the counter and saw a crumpled 20 dollar bill her parents had left her for dinner. She picked it up and put it in her pocket. Spinel decided she did not want to sit in the empty house by herself so she decided to explore the town she now lives in. Since it was summer and it wasn’t too cold outside Spinel decided to keep the shorts and T-shirt she was wearing and not change her clothes. Spinel peeked into the bathroom to make sure her hair was still pulled into two ponytails on her head. Satisfied with her appearance Spinel decided to head out.

Grabbing her shoes from next to the door, she put them on and left the house, locking the door on her way out. She shoved her keys into her pocket as she took off down the street not really knowing where to start. She knew eventually she would end up at the beach, but she wanted to explore the town too. Letting her curiosity get the best of her, she walked looking around at her new town. It was definitely a huge change from Empire City. First off this city was much cleaner. Empire city was covered in garbage from its residence not taking care of it. Beach City also wasn’t as busy there were barely any people out and about, and everybody was friendlier here too. Back in Empire City, the sidewalks were very crowded with busy people, but here in Beach City, everyone seemed very friendly and welcoming. A few people even waved at her as she walked down the street. 

Spinel had awkwardly looked away when that happened, she didn’t want to chance somebody would stop and talk to her so she just continued on her way. She wasn’t used to random people being so nice to her. These people didn’t know her. She continued to walk down around. She passed an amusement park that had a sign that said Funland and made a note to check that out later for jobs. She also passed a place called fish stew pizza. Feeling hunger start to creep up on her, Spinel decided to go look for a place to get some food but she didn’t feel like pizza. She walked by a few food places but was having trouble finding something she wanted. She walked by a pastry shop called The Big Donut. She stopped in front of the little shop. She thought donuts sounded really good right now as she walked inside. The place was nice there was lots of purple. A blonde girl wearing a purple work uniform stood at the counter. Her head perked up and a friendly smile spread across her face as Spinel entered the shop.

  
  


“Hello, welcome to the Big Donut,” Said a blonde with a big smile as she put on a pair of clear gloves ready to take Spinel’s order.

The girl’s smile made Spinel want to relax this girl seem nice just like everyone else in this town.

Spinel gave her a nod and the girl asked, “Are you new in town, I’ve never seen you here before?” 

The questions irritated Spinel a bit, she did not like talking about herself and she certainly did not like talking about herself to strangers.

Spinel did not like to make small talk but she also didn’t want to be rude to this girl so she begrudgingly answered, “Yeah I’m Spinel, I just moved here.”

The girl’s eyes widened slightly, making Spinel regret she said anything, “You’re named after a gem, you must be part of Steven’s family.” 

  
  


Spinel had absolutely no idea who this Steven was and what he had to do with her name. As curious as Spinel was though she wanted to end this conversation as fast as she could, Spinel did not like talking to people. She was super tempted to wonder why that girl assumed that just from her name.

She thought about ignoring that and continuing with her order, but, despite her hesitation, she responded to the girl’s statement anyways, “No I don’t know any Steven.” 

The girl blushed in embarrassment and laughed, “Oh my bad, Steven’s aunts are named after gems so I just assumed you were part of his family. I’m Sadie by the way, welcome to Beach City, Spinel I hope you like the city so far.” 

Spinel did not know what to say back and the girl seemed to be able to tell because she continued to take Spinel’s order Spinel ordered two chocolate donuts.

Spinel thanked Sadie and got her donuts before heading out thinking about how strange her first encounter with a beach city resident was. She hoped that every conversation with the people in Beach City did not go like that. She let her thoughts drift to what the girl, Sadie, said. Who is this Steven, why was Spinel so interested in who he is. Why did Sadie assume she was related to him. Spinel had so many questions. Spinel’s thoughts continued to wander as she walked. Spinel munched on one of the two chocolate donuts she had bought and went down to sit at the beach. Spinel loved to sit at the beach it was very relaxing the calming sound of the waves. She walked down, one to the edge where the water almost hit where she was sitting. Spinel took one of her feet out of the sandals she was wearing and put her foot in the sand and enjoyed how the sand was warm. She will say one plus to living in Beach City is the beach. Spinel sat down in the sand not caring if she got sand all over my clothes. Spinel set the bag with her second donut down next to her and lay back in the sand staring at the sky. She sat there spacing out and enjoyed the beach sounds. Spinel closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the sun on her face and the sand under her.

“This is great,” she said to herself as she sat up again, shaking the sand out of her pink twin ponytails, which was probably one of the only downsides to laying in the sand.

As well as trying to get some of the sand out of her hair Spinel also tried to dust off her clothes too but she still wasn’t too successful.

Spinel pulled out her phone so she could take a picture of the view she had on the ocean. Spinel loved to take pictures of things she likes to remember. She focused her camera until she was satisfied with the angle and then snapped the picture. Spinel wasn’t happy so she took a few more pictures till she was happy with the picture she took. She smiled as it saved on her phone and tucked her phone back away into her pocket. Spinel decided she wanted to sit on the beach for a bit longer so she sat back down on the sand. Spinel sat there enjoying the beach for longer than she thought because as she was getting up to head home the sky was already starting to darken. She was slightly shocked at how much time had passed when she looked at her phone again. Spinel had long since eaten the other donut and decided to start walking back home. Spinel got up and stretched a bit, her legs cramping from sitting in the sand for so long.

As she started her way back home, she turned around and noticed a figure in the distance. She didn’t think much of it at first till she noticed this strange figure was staring directly at her. She had thought she felt someone staring at her, but she thought she was alone on the beach. She couldn’t make out much of this figure all she could tell about the figure was it was a boy and this boy had glowing pink eyes. She could also tell this boy had curly dark brown hair and was cute. As their eyes met the boy’s eyes widened a bit and that told Spinel that she wasn’t supposed to be seeing him. Who was this boy? A part of Spinel was extremely creeped out that this strange pink-eyed boy was staring at her for who knows how long. But another part of her was enraptured with this boy and wanted to get to know him better. Spinel wanted to go up to him and ask him why he was staring at her. Her breath hitched as she stared this pink-eyed boy staring straight into her eyes. She decided to go talk to this strange boy. She made one made a mistake thought she looked away from him.

Spinel turned around to grab her trash from the donuts and turned back to face the boy only to realize he was not there anymore. Spinel’s head whipped back and forth as she searched for the boy. She had no idea what happened to him. Spinel ran over to where she saw the boy. He was nowhere to be seen and she was in complete shock. Spinel couldn’t figure out how the boy could have disappeared so fast he disappeared. One moment he was there, then she looked away for just a second and then poof he was gone. That could not have actually just happened. Spinel began to wonder if she had imagined the boy, as there was no trace he had ever been here there weren’t even footprints in the sand. Spinel figured she must have hallucinated the whole thing. Spinel could not stop thinking about the boy with the pink eyes. She wanted to know who he was. It was only her first day in Beach City and she was already so weirded out as it was how was she supposed to live here. Spinel didn’t care if Beach City had beaches she did not like it here. She could live without good looking stalker boys.

With a shutter, she continued on her way home, but she couldn’t shake the feeling she was being watched. She did not want to think about someone following her, but she couldn’t help but be paranoid about it. She kept looking around but nobody was there. Spinel wanted to run home, but instead just kept up her steady walking pace. Spinel was thoroughly freaked out and was very relieved when she made it back to her new house. She fumbled with her keys for a moment but managed to get the door unlocked. She walked inside and made sure she locked the door. Now that she was home she could let out the breath she was holding. Spinel couldn’t stop thinking about how weird today had been. She jumped when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye, she whirled around to come face to face with her mother. Spinel was very surprised to find her mother sober usually her parents were not sober around this time. She did not know where her father was but hopefully, if her mother was sober her father was too.

“Spinel,” Her mother said in a chastising tone which Spinel was extremely familiar with, “why are none of your boxes unpacked yet.” 

Spinel resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The rare occasion her parents were home and sober they berated her constantly on things she did or in this case didn’t do. 

Decided she wasn’t in the mood to fight her mother Spinel said, “Sorry mom, I will unpack my boxes tomorrow.” 

Her mom looked like she wanted to continue to chastise Spinel but simply stepped out of her way and let her stomp up to her room. She walked up to her room and saw her window was open. Assuming her mom opened it, she closed her window and opened the box she knew had her pillows and blanket in it. Deciding she would find her sheets tomorrow she threw the blanket and pillows on her bare bed and bug out some clothes too. 

She grabbed the small plastic bag that held her shower stuff and she headed off to take a shower and rinse the sand off of her. As she showered she thought about the boy she may or may not have imagined. She couldn’t see him too well, but she could see he had brown curly hair and pink eyes. She couldn’t make out features, but she could tell he had been very good looking. She continued to think about him as she finished in the shower and got dressed for bed. Making sure she brushed her hair out from being put up all day she flopped into bed and stared at the ceiling of her new house. She still did not consider this strange new place at home. 

She had to admit though so far Beach City has been weird, maybe tomorrow will be better. Maybe she could make herself a home here. As much as she felt mad at herself for this she hoped she might see the pink-eyed boy again. Those were her final thoughts as she drifted off to sleep to prepare for what the next day would bring.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really happy people are enjoying this story.

Steven half-awake trudges down the stairs, the only part that sucks about being half-vampire is Steven definitely was not a morning person. Steven very much liked his sleep and being homeschooled by Pearl made sleeping until the early afternoon possible for his daily routine. Steven has always been bad about getting up before 10:00 a.m. The gems were lucky because while they were mostly nocturnal creatures due to their sensitivity to sunlight they also did not need to sleep at all though they could if they wanted to. Steven was half-human so he needed sleep, he could get away with less sleep than a normal human. 

The sun didn't affect him as harshly either. He was not planning on going sunbathing anytime soon though, because, He got a wicked sunburn if he was out in the sun too long without his gem. Steven sighed just being reminded of his gem. Not wanting to accidentally forget it before going outside for the day Steven felt along his neck for it before realizing he left it in his room. Rubbing his eyes, he trudged back up the stairs and grabbed the necklace off of his nightstand sitting right next to his cookie cat alarm. He fastens the clasp around his neck and let the pink diamond hang around his collarbone. Steven took a moment to look at the necklace hanging around his neck in the mirror he hung on his wall. Steven wasn't exactly sure how the necklace kept him safe in the sun, but it was infused with some type of magic to let vampires (and half vampires) walk out in the sun without feeling the negative side effects. Steven had to fight the urge to crawl back into his bed again.

Walking back downstairs Steven made a beeline for the coffee machine. Steven stared at the coffee machine with stars in his eyes. Steven loved coffee in the morning, it helps with the drowsiness he felt from going against his very nature. Steven started the machine and put one of the little cups with coffee in it, inside the machine (Keurig coffee machine) Steven saw Pearl’s door flash on the temple door as it opened and there Pearl appeared. Pearl stepped out of the temple the door closing behind her. Steven had once asked Garnet how the temple did what it did and she said it was made of magic. Steven didn't really know what his caretakers did in their rooms all night because he knew they didn't need sleep. He knows Amethyst sleeps sometimes, but he was pretty sure Pearl and Garnet didn't. Pearl was nearly disgusted at human rituals such as eating or sleeping. He remembered Amethyst telling him she had to feed him when he was a baby because as soon as he saw Pearl was disgusted by the human food he immediately didn't want it. So, since Amethyst was the only gem who ate, they put her in charge of feeding him.

“Good morning Pearl!” Steven said cheerily despite his tiredness Steven tried not to seem as tired as he actually was because he knew that Pearl would tell him to sleep more.

Pearl looked over to where Steven was standing in the kitchen and gave Steven a motherly smile as she responded back, “Good Morning Steven though it’s hardly morning anymore it's 12:30. 

Steven’s eyes widened in surprise, he had not meant to sleep so long. He usually woke up around 10 or 10:30 he’ll have to start setting his alarm again so he isn’t sleeping his whole day away.

“Oh, I didn't mean to sleep in so late. I guess I was more tired than I thought I was,” Steven chuckled and scratched the back of his head trying to ignore Pearl’s disapproving stare.

“Your half-human Steven you need sleep you cannot keep going at all times like the rest of us can,” Pearl told him and Steven knew she was right, but he was almost an adult he turned 18 in just a few months.

Besides, he thought to himself, it's not like he had anything important, he was doing in the early morning anyways. Steven didn't say any of this to Pearl, he knew if she did that she would lecture him on the importance of sleep to the human (or in his case half-human) body. The coffee machine turned off signaling to Steven that his coffee was done. Letting out a whoop of excitement Steven picked a cup out of the cabinet. Finally, having his coffee Steven puts his favorite creamer in before happily sipping on the hot liquid. Steven winced in pain and stuck his tongue out as he set his cup back on the counter. Pearl let out a tsk noise as she gave Steven a disapproving look as Steven tried to cool his burnt tongue off. 

“Steven you should really be more careful. You could burn yourself on hot liquids,” She says as Steven rolls his eyes not really listening to Pearl.

Pearl treated Steven like he was a child and it really got on Steven’s nerves. Yeah, he understood Pearl cared but he was almost 18 he was not a kid anymore. Even though Steven told her this though she still insisted on treating him like a child. Steven usually just went with it though because he knew that Pearl just cared about him and had safety in mind. Steven would never admit it out loud, but he did appreciate Pearl’s motherly tendencies when they weren’t smothering him.

Trying to soothe Pearl’s worries so she did not throw herself into a panic Steven told her, “I’m fine Pearl don’t worry, It’s just a little burn on my tongue I'm not going to die from it.” 

Pearl sighed and walked over to stand next to him as she placed her cold hand on his shoulder not that Steven could tell the difference his skin was almost as cold.

“I know Steven it’s just hard to think that you can get hurt a lot easier than the rest of us can,” Pearl told him as she pulled her hand back to her side.

Steven understood he really did, but he didn't want to be treated like he was made of glass. Garnet and Amethyst didn’t treat him like he wasn’t capable it was just Pearl and Steven why she did it that did not mean he had to like it all the time. 

“Pearl it’s okay, but I’m alright, I gotta go into town today, so I’ll probably be gone for a few hours,” Steven told her as he went back to drink more of his coffee pleased with the slightly cooler temperature. Steven happily sipped at his coffee sitting on the stool right next to him. He and Pearl sat together in silence as he drank his caffeinated drink 

Pearl looked Steven up and down as if she was looking for something specific on him. Steven simply raised his eyebrow, wondering why Pearl was staring at him like she was, Steven was not worried though because he knew that Pearl would tell him what was on her mind.

“Do you have your mother’s necklace, Steven? That sunburn you got last time looked like it really hurt. We do not want that to happen again anytime soon,” Pearl said as Steven pulled the pink diamond necklace out from under his clothes and showed it to Pearl so she wouldn’t keep going on about his past embarrassments. Amethyst still teased him about it.

He shuddered as he thought about the last time he went outside without his necklace. That sunburn he got is why he now has an aloe vera plant growing in his room. He spent so much money on aloe vera. Okay, he corrected mentally his dad spent so much money on his aloe vera. Steven had been bedridden for at least 3 days when that happened. He had learned his lesson and has not forgotten his gem since. Steven definitely did not want to do that again.

“I got it right here Pearl don't worry about it so much,” Steven said with a chuckle downing the last of his coffee before putting his cup down in the sink and washing it before putting it down on the drying rack. 

Pearl sighed as she rolled her eyes at Steven brushing off her concerns. 

She walked back over to Steven and gave him a kiss on the head as she sighed, “Just be careful Steven you know the slayers know where we are now. We cannot let our guard down anymore, they could attack us at any time.” 

Steven winced at the mention of the slayers. He had learned about them the hard way. It reminded Steven too much of what happened with Connie. Steven mentally willed himself not to cry. He really was trying not to think about that right now. 

Steven shook his head to dispel the unpleasant thoughts. He didn’t tell his guardians how messed up, he actually was about the whole thing that happened on his first encounter with the slayers. Only letting out a little sniffle Steven leaned into Pearl for a moment trying to reassure her. 

“I’ll be fine Pearl I have my phone on me, you can call me if you need to.” 

At that Steven closed the door to his house and decided to walk to the Big Donut instead of taking the Dondai. He needed to get some fresh air after the painful feelings Pearl brought back up, feelings he thought he had buried deep down. Steven had thought he was finally getting over what had happened, but he realizes now he hadn’t he had just buried the feelings and had not actually gotten rid of them. Feeling a bit down now Steven walked to the Big Donut he tried to not look as down as he felt, but he was pretty sure he did a bad job at it. He walked into his favorite donut shop and at the counter stood Lars. Lars was one of Steven’s best friends. He was one of the few people who knew of Steven’s secret about being half-vampire. His pink skin being a permanent reminder to him of what Steven had done for him not too long ago. Marking him permanently a part of Steven’s supernatural world. Lars looked up from the comic he had been reading at the front counter as he heard the bell from the door, go off Lars smiles at Steven as he walked in. 

Lars puts his comic down and sat back on the stool he had dragged out to the front as he greeted Steven, “Heyyyyy Steven how’s it going?”

Steven pulled up a grin on his face as he walked up to the counter, he was happy to be around one of his best friends. In the last few months, Lars had become one of Steven’s best friends. He was also Steven’s only friend who knew his secret. ‘Except her’ Steven’s thoughts added bitterly and Steven immediately pushed those thoughts out Lars knew everything Steven was dealing with lately. 

“It could be better. But nothing to do about that at the moment I suppose,” Steven said as he rested his elbows on the counter. 

  
  


“What’s wrong Steven?” Lars asked, worried about his best friend.

Steven shrugged his shoulders as he deflated a bit on the counter, “Honestly, it's nothing Pearl just said something and I let it get to me… I don't really want to talk about it right now…”

Lars knew not to push Steven if he did not want to talk about what was bothering him so instead Lars 

“Did you want your usual Steven?” Lars asked as he started to ring up Steven's usual order of a chocolate donut.

Steven chuckled as he handed Lars his debit card, “Hehe, you know me so well.” 

Lars swiped Steven’s card and handed it back to him.

Lars laughed at that finding his opportunity to tease Steven, “Or maybe your just too predictable.” 

That caused Steven to blush as he stuttered back, “W-well, maybe y-your to unpredictable.”

Lars gave him a confused look as he responded, “Dude, that doesn’t even make sense.” 

Steven lowered his head to hide his smile as he changed the subject, “Anyways, I’ll be on my way things to do, people to suck dry.” 

Lars chuckled, knowing Steven was joking about the last statement Steven would never think about harming another person in his life. Steven said his goodbyes to his friend as he headed out of the Big Donut. Wanting to enjoy the nice weather Steven decided to walk near the beach. He ate his donut as he walked, enjoying the taste of the chocolate. Steven was in a much better mood now that he had a donut and near the beach. Steven was extremely glad he lived in Beach City because being near the beach relaxed him greatly. Steven loved the sound of the waves and the salty smell in the air. He loved it when he stuck his feet in the sand the sandals he wore almost every day made that easy.

Walking along the edge of the beach Steven stopped when movement caught his attention, causing him to pause in eating his donut. He barely saw it out of the corner of his eye, but it caught his attention enough to make him turn. He turned his head and saw a girl with magenta hair. Steven’s cheeks heated up as he stared at the girl. Her magenta hair was pulled up in two ponytails, she wore a pink shirt and black ripped jeans. Steven was entranced by this girl. Steven continued to stare as he looked at the girl. Steven could only see her back, but he knew he wanted to go and talk to her. He felt strangely drawn to her and he did not know why. He just knew he wanted to talk to her. Just when Steven was about to go talk to her, she got up and turned around, she had an upside-down heart on the front of her shirt. Their eyes met and Steven felt that urge to talk to her again. Steven was about to go and talk to her.

Steven continued to stare until he saw her eyes crinkle in irritation causing Steven to pause before he walked over to her. Steven felt his face flush again, this time with embarrassment. He had been staring at this [cute] random stranger for who knows how long probably making her think Steven was a complete creep. Steven felt embarrassment swell through him as his reasoning came back to him this girl was a human. He couldn’t get involved with another human girl. He couldn’t go through that again. As soon as the girl broke eye contact, to grab her stuff and probably heading to yell at Steven for being a creep, he fled. Nobody was around so he used his speed to flee and hide. Steven leaned against the wall of the building he hid behind he leaned around the wall slightly, looking to see if she had seen him run away really hoping she hadn’t he had no idea what to say to explain it.

He stayed out of her sight so she couldn't see him, but he could still see her. Steven saw the shock on her face as she turned around and saw he was gone. Steven continued to watch as the girl walked to where Steven was previously standing and looked around, probably looking for Steven. Steven looked at her face and saw that she looked quite irritated. He knew he should leave now and then hopefully he would never see this girl again, but he just couldn’t leave and risk never seeing this girl again. Steven found that when the girl gave up and started to leave Steven found himself following her. It’s times like this Steven was thankful for his vampire half. It allowed him to be a bit more stealthy on his feet. And he had a faster reaction time. Steven followed the girl back to what he was assuming was going to be her house, judging by how late it was getting. As the girl walked she kept looking around her and Steven thought he was probably doing a terrible job at following her. 

Steven knew what he was doing probably wasn’t alright, but he really wanted to get to know this girl a bit more. Steven had to admit he really wanted more human contact. Steven hadn’t had many friends in his life being kept away from most humans till he was old enough to keep the fact that he was a half-vampire secret so Steven did not really know how to go about talking to her. Lars was pretty much his only human friend and he’s not even really human anymore. Steven is all too aware that he is just a bit socially awkward. Steven couldn’t help but think about how he is following this girl and it is going to make things more awkward when he talks to her. Steven saw the girl walk into a nice looking 2 story house. 

She went inside and Steven was about to leave, but he didn’t want to yet. Steven looked over her house and saw a window with the curtains open on the second story. Steven looked around him for a moment to make sure nobody was watching before jumping up to the window. Floating right in front of the window Steven checked to see if it was unlocked. He saw it was unlocked and opened the window he crawled through the window, he tried to be as quiet as possible not wanting the awkward conversation that would most likely follow and probably a call to the police. ‘ Ugh Pearl would be so mad if that happened’ Steven thought as he looked around the room he had snuck into.

He entered into a room with lots of boxes. He walked up to one box and saw it was filled with posters. This must be the girl’s room. It looks like she and her family just moved here. That explains why Steven had never met her before. Steven may not have many humans he was close too, but he spends a lot of time studying the city and thought he knew everyone here. Steven walked closer to the door and heard two voices. 

He hears one voice that sounded like a woman’s voice, whoever this woman was she sounded irritated too.

He heard this voice say, “Spinel why are none of your boxes unpacked yet?” 

This lady had to be talking to the girl that means her name is Spinel. That thought filled Steven with happiness now knowing her name. Steven realized this must be her room. Steven was broken out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Steven felt a slight stab of panic, Steven did not want to get caught so he jumped out the window right as the door opens. Steven was running as soon as his feet hit the ground, Steven ran and his around the corner of her house. Steven peaked around the corner and saw Spinel appear at her window for a few moments before closing the window Steven left open. Steven relaxed slightly and let out the breath he had been holding glad he had not been caught, he had no idea what he would've said to her if he had been caught. Steven stayed there for a moment, making trying to make sure she would not walk back to the window. 

Steven started his walk back to the temple and was thinking about the magenta haired girl. Steven was happy he now knew her name. Spinel was her name. Steven thought about her and could not shake the feeling that the name sounded very familiar. Steven remembered hearing from Pearl about a gemstone called Spinel. Steven did not know why, but knowing she was named after a gemstone-like his family made him feel very happy. Steven very much wanted to get to know her better. Steven thought that was maybe a good sign. It was part of vampire culture to rename yourself after whatever gemstone you use to go out into the sun. Steven continued his walk back to the temple lost in thought the whole way. He kept thinking about Spinel. He got back to the temple only to be greeted by Garnet.

“Garnet, hey, how's it going?” Steven greeted, glad Garnet was the first person he had run into. 

Garnet was the only one of the vampires he felt like he could talk to about this. Steven was very nervous to talk to any of his family about this. He knew Pearl would just tell him to only associate with vampires. While he knew he could talk to Amethyst he also knew she would tease him relentlessly and he very much did not need that. So Garnet seemed like the best option aside from maybe his dad, but his dad was going fishing with his friend Vadalia’s husband Yellowtail. Vadalia had said something to his dad about Yellowtail needing more friends. So Garnet is the next best person to talk to. 

“My day has been good Steven, how has your day been?” Garnet greeted Steven back as he walked into the house that surrounded the temple.

Walking over to the fridge and grabbing a big full of blood, Steven grabbed a glass out of the cabinet and started to pour the blood into a glass. Steven pursed his lips not knowing how to start this conversation but tried his best anyways. 

‘Actually, I met someone today,” Steven said, though, in his head, he thought that using the word met was a big stretch. More like Steven followed the poor girl.

Garnet continued to stare at Steven prompting him to continue, “I saw her at the beach today and I want to talk to her but I don’t know if I should. I don't have very good experiences making human friends.” 

Garnet thought for a moment before sitting down on the couch prompting Steven to sit down next to her. Steven grabbed his drink that he had just taken out of the microwave and sat down next to Garnet. 

Garnet turned to Steven and said, “Steven, we didn’t have you around humans enough when you were younger, I’m sorry, but you can't let that stop you from embracing your human half because of our mistakes.” 

Steven quietly sipped looking down at his cup of blood. 

Garnet put a hand on Steven’s shoulder as she continued, “Trust me Steven talk to her.” 

“What’s this I hear about a human girl?” Said Amethyst as she popped up right next to Steven startling him. 

Steven nearly jumped out of his chair, clutching the front of his shirt. 

“A-amethyst! What the hell? You scared me!” Steven nearly yelled steadying himself on the counter. 

Amethyst doubled over in laughter wiping the tears that escaped from her eyes. 

“Oh my god! Your face! That was hilarious!” Amethyst made out through her laughter. 

Steven embarrassed now went back to his cup of blood trying his hardest to ignore Amethyst. 

“Sooooo Stevo who’s this human girl I hear you and Garnet talking about?” Amethyst continued on causing, causing Steven to choke on the blood. 

Coughing Steven set the cup down on the counter. 

“It’s nothing Amethyst, besides, I never even talked to her,” Steven said as he finished the rest of his drink before putting the glass in the sink to clean later. 

“Come on Steven don’t be like that tell me about this girl?” 

I knew when it counted Amethyst would be here for me, but even if I wanted to talk about this girl I couldn’t I didn't know anything but her name. 

“I’m serious Amethyst I never even talked to her. I just saw her sitting on the beach.” 

Amethyst pouted clearly not happy with his answer. 

“Man Steven, you need to go find her and talk to her,” Amethyst told Steven as she laid her head on the table next to Steven. 

Steven rolled his eyes as he heard the temple door activate again. Pearl stepped out and walked over in the direction of everyone. 

“Oh hey Pearl,” Steven said as Pearl walked into the kitchen. 

“Hello again Steven how are you doing?” Pearl said as she walked over to them.

Steven was about to answer before Amethyst but in, “Steven met a human girl today!” 

Steven groaned and dropped his head into his hands as he said, “I told you, I never even talked to her.”

Pearl's face twisted a bit at the mention of Spinel. 

“A human? Steven, you remember what happened last time -” Pearl was cut off by Steven. 

“Yes, Pearl we all know what happened last time no need to bring it up,” Steven quickly said not wanting Pearl to finish what she was about to say. 

Pearl looked a bit irritated at being interrupted, but talked anyways, “Anyways Steven are we still training today? I wanted to teach you some hand to hand combat today.” 

Steven smiled, delighted for the subject change. 

“Yeah, Pearl we can do some training did you want to do it right now?” Steven asked as he started walking toward his room. 

“Yes, how about we meet in 10 minutes?” Steven nodded as he walked up the stairs to his room to get clothes more comfortable for training on. As he walked up to his room, he heard Amethyst call out to him, “Don’t forget Steven woo your human girl.” He heard Amethyst’s giggles as his door slammed shut.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

Spinel could not get the pink-eyed boy out of her head as she walked to the beach again. She hoped she would see him there but at the same time, she didn’t. Spinel sensed something off about him she didn’t know what it was but every muscle in her body told her, he was not safe. Spinel still found herself heading to the same beach she saw him at. It was really nice outside so today Spinel wore a dark pink bikini with a black beach cover over her bikini. Spinel sat closer to the water this time and set her towel just far enough away that the tide wouldn't get it. Spinel looked around checking for the boy she saw before laying back on her towel deciding it was very unlikely she would see him again. Spinel sat up to grab her book from her bag and rolled over onto her stomach so she could read her book while she sat soaking in the sun. Spinel opened the book to the page she had dog eared and continued to read where she left off. She was reading a book about a girl who had fallen in love with a vampire.

As Spinel read the book she rolled her eyes. She loved the book but the main character was so naive. It was obvious something was off with the love interest but she missed all the signs until one of his enemies attacked her. Spinel continued to read until she realized she was hungry and forgot to bring food with her. Sighing in irritation Spinel got up and looked around for any food places that he may be able to get food from and come right back to the beach. She saw a little food stand that was called beach city walk fries. Spinel went up and saw a kid about her age sitting at the register.

She went up to the front counter and he introduced himself, “Hi I am Peedee what can I get for you today?”

Spinel smiles as she ordered, “Hi can I get a large fries and vanilla milkshake?”

The boy visibly sighed in relief as he said out loud, “See Steven it is not that hard to order off the actual menu.”

Spinel was extremely confused as she asked, “Who is Steven?”

Peedee chuckled shaking his head, “Everybody in Beach City knows who Steven Universe is you must be new here huh.”

Spinel flushed in irritation and embarrassment at this guy's audacity before replying, “Yeah I’m new here.”

Peedee finished placing her order before saying, “Your total is 4.20 and trust me you’ll meet him eventually.”

Spinel was very confused now as she nearly exclaimed, “Is beach city really that small?”

Peedee thought before nodding and going back to make her order.

* * *

  
Steven hummed happily as he walked down the street toward his favorite place to get fry bits. Steven walked over to the place and when he got there he slammed his fist on the counter and with his best cool guy impression he said, “I’ll get the usual please.”

Peedee sighed in irritation as he said, “Speak of the devil and he shall appear.”

Steven grinned at Peedee knowing his irritation was mostly fake.

“Awwww you were talking about me Peedee, I’m flattered,” Steven joked causing Peedee to crack a smile and put a bag of bits on the counter.

“Don’t be I was just happy someone ordered from the menu for once,” Peedee said to Steven.

Steven noticed Peedee did not give a name to this person and Steven immediately thought of Spinel.

“Who was it,” He asked curiously.

Peedee shrugged, “I have no idea some new girl she had pink hair and I think she said something about the beach.”

Steven grinned and thanked Peedee before rushing off to the beach where he had seen her last. Steven walked down to the beach and saw her sitting on a towel looking in Steven’s eyes. She sat there munching on her fries with her back to Steven. Steven stared at her suddenly feeling too anxious to go talk to her. Steven is very nervous but also doesn't want to get caught just starting again and labeled for sure as a creep, so despite his rising anxiety, Steven walked down the beach to the girl.

She didn't notice Steven at first too absorbed in her book. Steven stood there awkwardly for a moment before clearing his throat to get her attention. She looked behind herself and Steven and her eyes widened as recognition showed on her face. Steven chuckled awkwardly as Spinel stared at him.

“Uhh h-hi I’m Steven Universe,” Steven said, starting to feel more nervous.

Spinel realized she was staring and looked away blushing as she responded, “Hey I’m Spinel, didn’t I see you here a few days ago?”

Steven smiled at her glad this was a question he could answer, “Yeah! I live right over there where that big cliff is.”

Spinel looked over to the direction and her eyes widened when she saw the giant statue of a lady located next to the cliff.

“That’s your house?” Spinel asked in disbelief as she turned back to Steven.

Steven felt a bit happy hoping this was impressing Spinel.

“Yeah, I live there with my guardians Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl,” Steven said as Spinel furrowed his brows at him.

She wanted to ask about why he didn’t live with his parents but thought better of it not wanting to ruin this moment she gets to have with the boy she now knows is the Steven Universe she heard about earlier.

Spinel decided to ask a safer but still praying question instead, “Can we go see your house?”

Steven’s smile tightened slightly as he thought of an excuse.

“We can’t Pearl doesn’t exactly like me bringing people especially girls over,” Steven said not lying but not exactly telling the full truth either.

Pearl did not like him bringing humans over. Pearl was perfectly fine with him bringing his vampire friends over no matter if they were female or not. Spinel stands up and Steven gets a better look at her. Being a hormonal teenager, half-human or not Steven still felt himself staring at Spinel for a moment. Just long enough for them both to realize and look away blushing.

Not wanting to make this awkward Steven continues a conversation by asking, “I’ve never seen you around here so I’m assuming you just moved here. Where are you from?”

Spinel looked back up at him and said, “I moved here from Empire City, that's where I grew up.”

Steven immediately got excited at the mention of the big city. “Wait, what? I’ve always wanted to go to Empire City. My dad says he would take me one day but Pearl never lets him,” Steven said pouting for a moment thinking about how he wanted to explore places.

Spinel not wanting Steven to be sad says, “Don’t worry about that place it’s a mess in the city. Trash everywhere and don’t even get me started on the rude people. Beach City is much prettier.”

Steven has stars in his eyes as she describes Empire City and he whispers to her, “I want to go even more now.”

Spinel chuckles at Steven’s childlike wonder and tries to shift the conversation away from her.

“So you live with your aunts or whatever right? What about your parents?” Spinel asks as Steven’s face gets a bit guarded at the mention of his family.

“They aren’t my aunts they are friends of my mom and my dad is over there enough he practically lives there too but he prefers to stay in his van most of the time. He doesn’t get along with Pearl very much,” Steven’s face fell for a moment and he paused before adding, “And my mom? She died giving birth to me.”

Spinel looked in horror and started to apologize, “Oh my god Steven I didn’t know I’m so sorry for bringing it up.”

Steven waves her off, putting a smile back on his face as he tried to calm her down, “Oh no don’t worry it happened a long time ago. I was a newborn so I don't even remember it.”

That did not make Spinel feel any better but she let it go anyways. Spinel bent down to roll up her towel and she and Steven went to sit on a drier part of the beach farther from the water. Spinel and Steven continued to chat with each other learning more about the other.

Spinel learned that Steven was homeschooled and so he had never been to a regular school and there were not many teens their age in Beach City so most of his friends were older than him. She also learned that Steven was 17 only 1 year older than her. Spinel also told Steven more things about herself. Like how she was going into her junior year of high school when summer is over.

Steven winces when she tells him what school he was going to be going to and when she asks if he’s okay his only reply is, “I know someone who goes to that school.”

Getting over it quickly though Steven tells Spinel that Pearl told him he can go to a human college when his homeschooling is done with. Steven and Spinel talk for some more time before Steven gets a phone call. He looks at the caller ID to see Pearl.

He answers the phone, “Hello?”

“Steven? We may have found the hunters HQ and we are going to go scout out the area we need you to come home,” Pearl said causing Steven to frown.

“Okay Pearl I’m on my way back,” Pearl hung up without a goodbye and Steven sighed while he looked down at his phone.

Steven flung himself back into the sand and looked up at Spinel.

“Ugh I gotta go home Pearl needs help running some errands,” Steven said the lie easily slipping out of his mouth after years of practice.

Spinel frowned, sad but also knew she couldn’t keep him from his family. She had just met him.

Steven handed Spinel his phone and said, “Here put your number in here for me so we can hang out again. I liked talking to you today.”

That caused Spinel to blush again as she put her number into his phone. Steven took his phone back and smiled, getting up to leave after waving to Spinel. Spinel sat there for a few moments after he left and it only took those few moments before she felt her phone buzz it was a text from Steven.

**Steven: Here is my number so you can save it. We should hang out again sometime. XD**

Spinel smiles at her phone and texted him back.

**Spinel: Your the only person I know so far so I would definitely be down to hang out again.**

Spinel got up and started to head home but had a thought she wanted to get a job to keep some of her free time busy. She also wanted to start saving money so she could move out as soon as she graduated. She thought about places she could work and the boardwalk she got food at came to her mind. Walking over there she looked at a few places around the area. She wandered into the Funland arcade seeing the help wanted sign out front.

Spinel wandered around inside seeing all the arcade games. She saw a man with a big smile sitting at the prize counter.

She wandered over to him and gave a timid smile of her own as she asked, “Hi sir do you own this arcade?”

The man’s smile widened if that was even possible and he said, “Why yes young lady I do. What can I do for you today?”

Spinel felt her nerves ease a bit and she asked,” I saw a help wanted sign out front and wanted to put an application.”

The man sat up straighter and his eyes lit up.

“Oh yes, of course, you can have an application we could use more people. My name is Mr. Smiley by the way,” Mr smiley said as he pulled out a piece of paper from under the counter.

I thanked him and took the paper he told me I could fill it out and bring it back to him if I wanted to. He shook my hand as I said bye and headed home texting Steven about how I hoped I got the job as I walked back to my house.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, should I write smut in this book? I haven't decided if this book will have smut or not but if anyone wants it I’ll write it


	4. Chapter 4

Spinel leaned up against the wall of the Big Donut as she waited for Steven. She had tried to wear something cute today as she had on a black shirt with a pink upside-down heart on the front. She was also wearing a pair of dark blue shorts and black flip flops with rhinestones on them. She had a book in her hand and was reading it while she waited. Spinel loved to read, she was always reading books. She knew she was early, but Spinel couldn’t help but be excited at the thought of hanging out with Steven. It had been a few days now since she had given him her phone number.

The two had been texting a bit since she met him on the beach and Steven had asked her if she wanted to hang out today. Spinel had gotten very happy and felt butterflies in her stomach and she had reread the text message over again before she had answered. She very willingly agreed and Steven had said they should meet at the Big Donut since it was a place they both knew. She was holding a cup of coffee in her hand very thankful it was the Big Donut they were meeting at. She hadn’t stayed inside, preferring to sit outside because she did not know the people who worked here very well and felt like she would have to make conversation by herself. It wasn't that early it was noon, but Spinel hadn’t had coffee before she left the house. Spinel was a very grumpy girl without her coffee. She really liked being friends with Steven so she really hoped she didn’t mess this new friendship up.

Spinel stared at her coffee thinking of Steven, when she first saw him she thought he was very mysterious, but after talking to him yesterday she realized he was more of a sweet guy than the mysterious bad boy he looked like. Spinel had texted Steven a lot over the last few days, but she had not hung out with him again. He had always been busy with “family stuff”. Spinel had thought he didn’t want to hang out with her anymore and was making excuses to not meet up with her. Spinel realized she was smiling to herself as she thought about Steven that made her blush slightly. Spinel was feeling a little anxious waiting for Steven but knew she was still early. Spinel didn’t have to wait too much longer before Steven arrived. Spinel almost missed him walking, but Spinel had been looking around waiting for him and she smiled and waved when she saw him.

She said to Steven as he approached her, “Hey Steven, how is your morning?”

She moved in to give him a brief, friendly side hug as he hugged her back. Steven felt slightly cold to Spinel as she hugged him and she thought that was strange but did not think too hard about it.

“Ehhh Pearls been on my case this morning, but other than that it’s been great,” Steven said shrugging eyeing the coffee in her hand.

Spinel noticed this and tried to hold back her snickers as Steven had his gaze directly on her drink.

Spinel laughed and said, “you want to pop in real quick to get a coffee.”

Spinel could practically hear his sigh of relief as he nodded.

Steven’s grin widened and he said, “Yes please I am not a morning person.”

Steven chuckled to himself like he had said an inside joke which confused Spinel a bit but she let it slide. Spinel held the door open for Steven and he thanked her in return. The two went back inside and Steven got a coffee while Spinel got a refill. After Sadie made their coffees Steven and Spinel talked to Lars. Spinel found it odd that Lars’s skin was pink, but back in empire city people were all into weird fads like that so she didn’t ask about it.

“Hey, Lars how is it going?” Steven said as he and Spinel stood over where Lars was refilling the soda machine.

Lars looked up and saw Steven and smiled.

“Yo Steven, what’s up?” Lars said as he stopped filling the soda machine so he could let Steven give him a hug.

“Hey Lars this is Spinel,” Steven told Lars as they broke apart and Steven stepped aside.

Spinel held out her hand for a handshake, but Lars simply shook his head and brought her in for a hug. Spinel was not used to people hugging her like this so she started to feel a little shy.

Spinel got flustered at the sudden contact and stuttered out a reply, “Uh hi my name is Spinel?"

She said it more as a question her flusteredness getting the best of her.

Lars stepped back, smiling and said, “Sorry Steven’s friendliness is a bad influence on me apparently.”

Lars chuckled as Steven let out an exasperated sigh at Lars.

Spinel heard Sadie let out a laugh before saying, “Steven has been anything but a bad influence on you, you used to be a dick, Lars.”

Irritation flashed across Lars's face before it disappeared and he let out a loud laugh at Sadie’s joke.

“You know what Sadie your right, I was a dick,” Lars said, leaving Spinel a little curious how Steven changed Lars.

Spinel mostly stayed silent while Steven chatted with Lars and Sadie, not awkwardly silent. It was a pretty comfortable silence. She enjoyed listening to the 3 banter back and forth. It made this strange atmosphere more comfortable for her since she was still a little apprehensive of this new city. Spinel realized she really liked hanging out with Steven and his friends. Spinel smiles as Lars told a funny story of Steven when he was younger. Steven did not seem too happy with Lars telling Spinel his embarrassing stories, but Lars was kind enough to not dwell on those too long.

“Ah man remember how obsessed you were with that one ice cream treat we used to have. What was it called,” Lars thought for a moment, “oh yeah, it was called Cookie Cat.”

Steven chuckled as Lars told the story then poured slightly as he thought of his favorite childhood treat that was no longer sold, “Those were so good I am still sad they discontinued them.”

Spinel cracked a smile at Steven’s kicked puppy look. Spinel couldn’t help but appreciate how good looking Steven was when he was pouting. Spinel thought when she first met Steven he looked like a bad boy now she realized he was a giant teddy bear. Spinel eventually got comfortable enough to join the conversation. She and Lars started talking a little bit more with Steven joining in occasionally to keep the conversation going.

“Oh, shoot Spinel you like parties? My friend Sour Cream throws amazing raves we should go one day,” Steven said excitedly as Spinel and Lars talked about how they like parties.

Steven, Spinel, and Lars talked until another customer came in and Steven and Spinel decided to leave so Lars could get back to work. The two teens exited the donut shop and started down the street. Spinel and Steven walked down the boardwalk talking to each other. Spinel stared at Steven’s pink eyes and asked a question that had been bothering her since she had first seen him on the beach.

“Do you wear contacts?” Spinel asked as Steven’s brows furrowed in confusion for a second and then his eyes widened in realization as he realized she meant the strange color of his eyes. Spinel thought he had gotten that color through the use of contacts.

“Oh, that, the color runs in my family on my mom’s side,” Steven said causing Spinel to get slightly embarrassed.

Spinel blushed when she realized how rude what she said had actually sounded, “Oh my stars, I am so sorry that was so rude.”

Steven smiled at Spinel’s flustered apologies and said, “No, no Spinel it’s fine, I know they are a bit…” Steven trailed off a bit as he grasped for the right word to use, “unique.”

Steven closed his mouth as if trying not to say too much of a secret. That made Spinel a bit suspicious of that his secret was but, Spinel pushed the curiosity aside if Steven wanted to talk to her about his life he would. If he didn’t, well it wasn’t her business to pry into an issue he did not want to talk to her about. She would respect that unless he wanted to talk to her about it.

The two teens walked around the boardwalk Steven giving Spinel a mini-tour as they walked. He pointed out things she may find interesting and babbled on about different people they passed. Eventually, they walked up to a pizza place called Fish Stew Pizza and walked inside. Steven walked up to the front counter where a girl was sitting at the front on her phone. The girl was dressed in pretty nice, but casual clothes and looked very tired.

“Kiki! How are you… why are you working today? I thought you were supposed to be working today?” Steven said.

Kiki sighed and rolled her eyes as she recalled what had happened, “Jenny asked me to cover her shift, there was an event that she needed to go to tonight, she said it was really important.”

Steven furrowed his eyebrows as he told Kiki, “you can’t keep covering her shifts for her Kiki it has been 2 weeks now.”

Kiki sighed as she laid her head down on the counter, “I know that Steven but she said this was really important to go to.”

Steven knew he wouldn’t be able to help Kiki at the moment he turned back to Spinel and introduced her, “Spinel this is Kiki, Kiki this is Spinal she is new to town.”

Kiki lifted her head and smiled as she reached her hand out for Spinel to take.

Spinel took her and as Kiki said, “Nice to meet you Spinel welcome to Beach City.”

Spinel smiles at the friendliness as she answered back, “Thank you, Steven is doing a wonderful job showing me around.”

Spinel didn’t notice Steven's face flush red, but Kiki did and she smiled teasingly, “I bet he is.”

Spinel heard the tone in her voice and narrowed her eyes what she meant by that. Steven, not wanting Spinel to notice his flustered face, quickly ordered a pepperoni pizza.

He noticed Spinel go and pull out her cash so he put his hand up and said, “Don’t worry Spinel, I got this.”

Spinel frowned as she replied, “But Steven, I’m the one who invited you out.”

Steven smiled at Spinel as he said, “Don’t worry, I’m not paying for it my dad is.”

To show Spinel he pulled out a credit card his dad gave him. He’s had a lot of money ever since his old manager sold his song to a burger company for their commercial. Spinel looked at the card and figured she wouldn’t be able to talk Steven out of it so she put her money back into her pocket. Steven paid for the food and went to find seats for him and Spinel. Trying to show off to Spinel a bit Steven pulled out her chair, causing the pink-haired girl to giggle.

“Thank you, Steven such a gentleman.”

That caused Steven to blush slightly again as he sat down. Steven and Spinel made small talk as they waited for their pizza. The conversation turned to books. Steven found out Spinel enjoyed reading just as much as he did.

Steven’s mood quickly turned sad as Spinel asked the question, “what is your favorite book.”

Steven frowned and looked down at the table confusing Spinel. Did she do something wrong?

Spinel reaches out to rest her hand on top of his. “I’m sorry Steven did I ask someone wrong?”

Steven looked up and tried to smile at Spinel but it came out looking more like a grimace. “No, no Spinel it wasn’t you, my favorite book was suggested to me by an old friend.”

Steven looked down for a moment again before looking up and giving Spinel a real smile this time as he talked about his favorite book series, “It’s called The Spirit Morph Saga. It’s really good, it's about this girl named Lisa and she finds out she is a witch and she has a familiar I ship them so hard.”

Steven continued to babble about the book and Spinel was shocked by his sudden change in attitude, but smiled and continued on with the conversation, not wanting to bring his mood down by asking about this friend he spoke of. He looked so sad when he talked about them Spinel did not want to see that sadness on his face again. The two teens talked about other books before they were both interrupted, but Spinel’s cell phone ringing stopped them as Spinel saw it was a number her phone did not recognize.

“Hello?” Spinel said as she answered the phone.

“Hi is this Spinel? This is Mr. Smiley from Funland," said the voice of Mr. Smiley from over the phone.

Spinel smiled, glad he had called her back. “Yes, this is her, it’s so nice to hear back from you.”

“Yes, I looked over your application, I wanted to bring you in for an interview,” Mr. Smiley said as Spinel’s smile widened further.

“Yes, yes, I can come in, when did you want me to come in?” Spinel said as Steven caught on to the conversation and smiled at that.

Mr. Smiley paused for a moment, probably looking at his schedule and answered, “How’s tomorrow at about 10 am?”

Spinel confirmed she was available for tomorrow and quickly got off the phone before giggling. “I got an interview, hell yeah!”

Steven and Spinel’s pizza got there and they ate the pizza together happier than before.


	5. Chapter 5

Spinel tugged nervously on the corner of her shirt as she fidgeted. She walked down the beach to where Funland was located. Spinel had never had a job interview before back in Empire City; she had a part-time job at one of her friends' parents' restaurants but she had known all of them there was never an official interview. Spinel took out her phone and saw the text from Steven. Spinel has told him earlier that she was feeling very nervous and smiled as she reread the texts from Steven. She had only known him for a short time but she already felt drawn to him. She smiled when she pulled up the text from Steven:

Steven: Good Morning! Good Luck with your interview! We can meet up after and you can tell me how it went.

Spinel looked down at her outfit she had on. She was wearing a smart pink blouse with a black skirt. Spinel did not have very many professional clothes but was able to find these at the back of her closet. As she walked she tried to calm herself knowing it was just a job interview but Spinel being a worrier couldn't help but feel anxious about this. Spinel looked up at the big sign for Fun Land quelling her nervousness and she walked down to Mr. Smiley's office. Spinel sighed as she knocked at the door. She took the moment before he opened the door to take a deep breath. Spinel put a smile on her face as he opened the door. Mr. Smiley smiled down at her as the door swung open.

"Oh hey, Spinel right?" Mr. Smiley said as he opened the door to his office wider to let me in.

"Yes! Hi Mr. Smiley." Spinel greeted as she sat down in the chair on the other side of his desk.

Mr. Smiley sat down across Spinel at his desk and pulled out Spinel's application before setting it down on top of his desk. Mr. Smiley leaned over the table and smiled in a fatherly way at Spinel.

"Lets cut the crap Spinel you're hired. I just wanted to see if I could trust you to show up for an interview. Think of it as a test and you passed congratulations."

Spinel opened and closed her mouth in shock at what she was hearing.

"Y-you don't want to ask me any questions, make sure I am fit for the job?" Spinel said as Mr. Smiley waved his hand dismissively.

"Beach City is not very big, I need to find employees where I can. I'm sure you'll do great though you seem like a reliable worker." They spent the rest of their time working out when Spinel would work and what she was allowed to work on because as a minor she couldn't operate the rides so Mr. Smiley told her she was going to work at the arcade.

Spinel left extremely happy that she had a job. Mr. Smiley told her what the day to come in for her first shift would be. Spinel was smiling big as she left his office happy she would have a little extra money and did not have to rely on the small amount her parents left for her. Spinel excitedly grabbed her phone and texted Steven. She was in the middle of sending Steven a text when she heard a horn honk in front of her. Spinel looked up a bit startled to see Steven in his dondai Spinel smiles big and bounded up to the passenger seat sliding into the car.

"Have you been waiting here for me to get out?" Spinel asked her face tinted pink, happy that Steven went out of his way to wait for her.

"Yeah! I wanted to know how it went did you get the job?" Steven asked back to her.

Spinel told him about the interview and Steven suggested they go out to celebrate.

"My friend Sour Cream is DJing a rave tonight we should go!" Steven suggested and Spinel nodded a bit nervous.

"I guess we could, I'm not very good at dancing though." Steven smiled big at Spinel and peeked over at her out of the corner of his eye before sliding them back to the road in front of him.

"We should go get you ready I was already planning on going tonight so I'm ready." Spinel gave Steven directions to her house and the two started driving there.

Steven had to pretend that he did not know where she lived because he had absolutely no explanation for telling her that without either out himself as half-vampire or super creepy. They pulled up in front of her house and Steven parked and couldn't help but notice Spinel's driveway was empty. Spinel opened the door and let herself and Steven inside. Steven couldn't help but notice the house was a pretty nice house. He hadn't seen much of the inside when he had followed Spinel here, he had been too worried about now being caught.

"Here you wait on the couch, while I go get changed here is the remote watch whatever you want," Spinel said as she handed Steven the remote and disappeared upstairs to get dressed.

Steven turned back to the TV and flicked it on and started to flip through channels. Steven didn't have much of a variety of cable back at the temple because Pearl didn't like to interact with humans and their technology. But Greg did buy a bunch of movies and tapes as well as the occasional DVD for Steven so he wasn't completely lost when it came to what was on TV. Steven stopped when under the knife came onto the TV. Steven started to think about how he used to watch this show with- Steven decided the show wasn't as good as he used to think I was and changed the channel and settled on watching a cooking show. Steven watched the show for a few minutes before he heard Spinel shuffling back down the stairs so he stood up and turned around. Once he was facing Spinel he got a good look at her and his mouth fell open.

Spinel was wearing a pink crop top shirt with a little heart cut out right above her chest it also had a good on it. She paired that with a pair of black ripped jeans. Steven shuffled nervously as Steven just started trying to keep his teen hormones in check.

"Is this okay?" Spinel asked as Steven's staring started to make her uncomfortable.

Steven shook himself out of his daze and smiled before nodding, "It's perfect. Anything you wear would be perfect."

That caused Spinel to smile and blush at Steven's compliment.

Steven looked at his phone. "We still have a few hours until the party."

"Well, we can hang out here and watch movies. Here let's go up to my room. The TV is better up there," Spinel said and Steven's mind went blank for a second.

Spinel invited him into her room.

'No bad Steven,' Steven thought to himself.

Banishing those thoughts from his head as he nodded and followed Spinel up to her room. Steven had already seen her room so he knew what it looked like but pretended to look around the room. I'm curious. She didn't have any more boxes as they had all been unpacked. Steven sat down on Spinel's bed as she grabbed her TV remote and sat down on the bed next to Steven. They both sat stiffly next to each other. Steven could feel the heat radiating off Spinel's body. He knew his skin was uncomfortably cold to a human but he very much wanted to snuggle up to that heat radiating off Spinel. If he concentrated a bit and blocked out other sounds he could also hear her heartbeat too and as Steven laid on Spinel's bed he let himself drift off listening to Spinel's heartbeat and the TV in the background.

Steven was roused by Spinel shaking his shoulder saying, "Hey Steven it's almost time to leave."

Steven sat up and rubbed his eyes and Spinel wanted to let out an awe at how adorable half-awake Steven looked but kept to herself.

"Okay I'm up," Steven let the sleepy fog clear from his head before saying, "Damn I can't believe I fell asleep."

Spinel let out a little chuckle as Steven straightened his clothes. Steven picked his car keys up from and twirled them around his finger a bit. "Alright, you ready?" Steven asks and Spinel nods. They both leave the house and Spinel locks the door behind her. After about 10 minutes they arrived at the venue. Spinel could hear the music before they even finished parking. Steven parked the car before turning to Spinel and saying, "Wait here for just a second."

Before Spinel could respond Steven got out of the car and ran over to the other side. Steven opened her door and held his hand out to her. Spinel giggled as she took his hand.

"How gentlemanly of you Steven."

Steven smiled and said, "Only the best for you."

Spinel blushed as she got out of the car. Spinel and Steven walked up to the building and Steven opened the door to the building for Spinel too causing her to blush. The music got louder when they opened the doors and headed inside. Spinel looked around in amazement at all the lights going around in a kaleidoscope of colors. There were already lots of people dancing. Some were dancing by themselves and some were dancing with a partner. Spinel turned to Steven letting him take the lead since she didn't really know anybody but him yet.

Steven took Spinel's and told her, "We don't want to get separated."

Spinel blushes again and nodded before realizing she was crushing on Steven like really crushing on him, not just that crush where you think someone is cute but that type of crush that has you wanting to be with that person all the time. Spinel happily let Steven pull her over to a blonde boy manning the DJ station.

Steven turned to Spinel to introduce them, "Spinel this is Sour Cream, Sour Cream this is Spinel."

Spinel gave a wave and a quiet, "Hello."

Sour Cream, on the other hand, pressed a button to put the DJ machine on auto and stepped down from the DJ stand.

"Hey Spinel, it is really nice to meet you. Any friend of Steven's is a friend of mine," Sour Cream said, sticking his hand out.

Spinel shook his hand as she responded, "It's nice to meet you as well."

Sour Cream excused himself and went back to the DJ stand and Steven and Spinel went off.

Steven noticed Spinel looking longingly at the dance floor and decided to take the first step.

"Want to dance?" Steven asked and Spinel nodded.

With their hands still linked Steven and Spinel walked onto the dance floor. Spinel knew she wasn't good at dancing but with Steven there dancing with her she couldn't bring herself to care about it. Steven swung her out before pulling her back in close. Their faces were so close she could lean in and kiss him. That thought made her blush as she stared into his pink eyes. He blushed as well when he realized how close they were and they quickly pulled apart. Spinel looked over Steven's shoulder and saw someone staring directly at her. She looked at him not understanding why he was staring at her.

She didn't realize Steven was talking to her. She looked at her confused, "I'm sorry what?"

Steven's face flushed a bit again as he repeated what he said, "I asked if you wanted anything to drink?"

Spinel was kinda thirsty so she nodded smiling. Spinel went to go stand against the wall while Steven walked to find the drink table. Spinel pulled out her phone to stave off the awkwardness she felt being by herself. Spinel played on her phone for a minute before she felt someone standing next to her. Spinel looked up and saw that guy that had been staring at her earlier. This guy gave her major creep vibes though.

"Hi there babe, I'm Kevin." Spinel wrinkled her nose at him calling her "babe".

"Uhhh hi," Spinel said awkwardly, her eyes searching the crowd behind him for Steven.

"Why is a pretty girl like you all alone? Have you been waiting here for me?" Kevin asked as he put his hand on the wall behind Spinel almost trapping her there.

Spinel sprinkled away from him slightly not liking the predatorial look in his eyes and he smiled at her.

"Actually I'm here with my friend Steven," Spinel tried to let him down easy.

Kevin's smile wavered for a moment as he said, "Yeah I saw you come in with the Universe but wouldn't it be much more enjoyable with me?"

Spinel tried not to make a face of disgust at the way he said Universe as if it was a bad taste he was trying to get out of his mouth.

Spinel did make a face this time letting her distaste show. She tried to back further into the wall and turned her face away from him, "I am perfectly happy with Steven, he is wonderful so no thank you."

Kevin frowned and grabbed her arm a little too hard, making her wince in pain.

"I said you'll have more fun with me come on let's dance," Kevin said as he tried to roughly drag Spinel back to the dance floor.

Spinel let out a gasp of surprise when he yanked at her arm, her surprise left quickly though and was replaced by anger.

"Hey buddy I said I ain't interested," Spinel said as she yanked her arm back away from him and held it up to her chest.

Kevin looked insured as he took a threatening step closer to her. Spinel leaned away from him and she took a step back from him.

"Listen, babe, you don't say no to Kevin, any girl would kill to have me ask them to dance," Kevin said as he went to grab for Spinel again but she took a bigger step back avoiding his hand.

Kevin was starting to look angry now as he put his hand on his hips. "I said I want to dance."

Spinel was starting to get angry and was about to tell him off again when she felt a cold hand slip through hers and a voice says, "I believe she said she did not want to dance with you, Kevin." 

Spinel looked up with a smile to see Steven giving Steven a dangerous glare. Steven's usual carefree demeanor was gone, replaced with something dangerous. Spinel would be terrified if she were on the receiving end of that glare but she felt safe knowing it was protecting her. Kevin scoffed trying to shake off the fear that was starting to show on his face.

"Listen, dude, I only asked her to dance. It's not my fault she got crazy on me," Kevin said and Spinel felt her blood run cold in anger at him calling her crazy. He wanted to call her crazy Spinel could show him crazy.

Spinel silently pushed herself away from Steven ignoring his confused look. She also ignored it when he tried to grab her as she started walking toward Kevin.

"Spinel what are you doing?" Steven asked worryingly as Spinel walked up to Kevin.

She raised her head and his smirk was wiped off his face when he saw the look on her face. Before he could say anything though she pulled her arm back and punched him in the face as hard as she could. She felt her fist connect with his nose and felt the crunch as his nose broke as well as her hand. Spinel heard gasps and cheers as Kevin fell backward and landed on his butt on the ground. Spinel barely felt the pain in her hand as she cradled it to her chest smiling to herself. Spinel felt Steven wrap his arms around her and pull her away from the crowd that was gathering around Kevin. Steven took Spinel outside and sat her down in his car where he turned on one of the lights in his car examining her hand. His vampire scenes had heard the crunch so he already knew the bone was broken. Steven laughed as he examined Spinel's hand causing Spinel to give him a weird look.

"What is so funny?" Spinel asked, cracking a smile of her own.

Steven shook his head as he stifled his laughter, "Nothing I've just wanted to do for years, I've always hated Kevin."

Spinel laughed along with Steven and Steven went to grab his emergency medical kit he kept in his trunk. It was basically a first aid kit but it had a bit extra in it Incase Steven got hurt doing stuff with his vampire family. Steven pulled out some bandages and bound her wrist and knuckles making sure it was bound well enough to set correctly. Spinel gazed at him in wonder, curious about how he knew how to bind a broken bone.

"Where did you learn this?" Spinel asked, causing Steven to pause trying to think of an excuse.

Steven settled on something simple, "I learned it from being homeschooled. Pearl wanted to fit more life skills into my education."

Spinel nodded, buying his excuse easily. Once Spinel's "battle wound" as she dubbed it was taken care of Steven decided it was time to call it a night.

Spinel agreed, "Yeah it's getting late, I did have lots of fun tonight though."

Steven told Spinel he had lots of fun too and they headed off in his dondai to drop Spinel off at her house.


End file.
